The Black X-Wing
by isoner
Summary: The REAL reason Poe switched from flying a white and blue fighter to a black and red one. Oneshot


Star Wars: the Black X-Wing

Authors note: I remember reading in Star Wars Insider or somewhere that explained that at the start of Force Awakens Poe was traveling in secret, so he used a different, nondescript X-wing, instead of his usual black one… which was a older model and all of that stuff. I don't buy it. That explanation sounds like a load of Daggit Drivel… or Bantha Poodoo. I apologize in advance for misspelling Star Wars character and place names.

Here is my explanation for the Black X-Wing:

It took Poe Dameron a long time to make it back to base. He first had to smuggle himself off Jakuu, and then find an indirect route back to the Resistance Base, just in case he was being tracked by the First Order.

When his chartered transport finally landed, Leia, and the entire Resistance high command were outside waiting for him.

"Did you get it?" Leia asked. She had a way of cutting through any personal feelings to come directly to business, "Did you get the map?"

"Yes, but—" he sighed, "BB-8 has it. I sent him off on his own, and then I was captured."

He tried to read the rapid progressions of emotions that crossed General Leia's expressions.

"He is a reliable droid," Poe said, "Im sure he will make his way here just as soon as he can, but I would like to go back to Jakuu and find him myself."

"Trust me," she said, "I know all about reliable droids. In the mean time, we need to debrief you properly."

In his debriefing, Poe told them all about the Stormtrooper who helped him to escape, the elite TIE fighter they stole and then crashed, and his failed attempts to find either Finn or BB-8 before he finally made his way back to the Resistance base.

After his debriefing, and at every meal period he could get anyone to listen to him, Poe would again relay the more exciting highlights of his escape. He made some mention of the brave Stormtrooper he named Finn who helped him break out, but mostly he talked about what came after.

"You would not believe that fighter," he frequently said at the meal tables, "all black with red trim. I tell you that baby was fast! And way more maneuverable than you would expect from the way they fly them against us. And it had quite a weapon assortment, no wonder it had a gunner seat like the ancient Y-wings, but did I tell you how that thing could move? I mean, they couldn't even touch us… until I got distracted anyway."

In the corner, two techs covered their heads. "Is he ever going to shut up about that damn TIE fighter?" one asked.

"No," the other said. "Hope he doesn't decide he signed up for the wrong navy, the way he talks about that thing.

Suddenly, the first tech burst out laughing. "Oh, I have such an idea for a joke."

"Your jokes never end well," the other one said. "Will it at least give him something else to talk about?"

"Poe still needs a new fighter assignment right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Lets go and pick out one of our spare X-wings, and paint it up like a First Order fighter! You know, all black with red markings? We will set it up, and tell him it's his. When the joke is over, he will get one of the regular X-wings, and we will have plenty of time to paint it back to match the others."

The second tech laughed… "I like it. It's a lot of work, but lets do it. We can get those new trainees to do most of the painting."

The Next Day:

"Well, here is your new fighter assignment, Poe," the deck officer said as he walked Poe Dameron across the tarmac to where the specified fighter was sitting. When he looked up and saw that instead of white and blue, the fighter was instead black and red, the Deck Officer's face turned an even darker shade of red. "I'm sorry sir. I don't know who was behind this poor taste in jokes, but I will soon get to the bottom of it, I'll get you another fighter."

Poe, however wore the largest grin anyone had ever seen on him. "No way," he said. "This is the one, I love it! I will certainly stand out in this one! And it sort of reminds me of that other fighter… I bet those First Order pilots will freak out when they see an X-wing painted in their own colors! No, sir, this is my new fighter!"


End file.
